Many of you probably already know that there is no boot.ini in Windows 7 or Vista, but I wanted to explain it to the less advanced users and how they can modify their boot settings via a GUI.
Boot.ini Location Windows 7:
The boot.ini was replaced by bootmgr.dll in Windows 7 and is always in the root directory of your main Windows partition. However, because it is a protected system file you can’t actually see it. Read our guide how to access hidden files in Windows 7
Boot.ini XP vs. Bootmgr.dll Windows 7
The boot.ini normally includes the boot configurations. If your system can’t properly read this file, you will NOT be able to boot your system any longer and you will have to manually edit the boot.ini from a command prompt to fix the problem. This was true for Windows XP. In Vista and Windows 7 the boot.ini file was replaced with the bootmgr.dll also sitting in the root directory of your main partition.
Edit Windows 7 Boot Configuration via BCDEdit
You can edit the boot configurations using the bcdedit command in an elevated command prompt. However, I strongly urge you to not to mess with this if you don’t know what you’re doing or at least have a rescue CD that you can boot from if you break your system.
Pre-cautions:
1. Step Download KNOPPIX Live CD (that you can use to boot from in case of emergency)
2. Step Create a backup of bootmgr.dll
EasyBCD is a great tool to edit your boot configuration if you don’t know all of the BCDEdit command line options. It’s the recommended choice for beginners.
